Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson are increasingly invoking Christian 'values' as a US legal group expands its influence in Britain, raising concerns about the impact on UK politics. Farage, leader of Reform UK, frequently calls for a return to 'Judeo-Christian' values, while Robinson embraced evangelical Christianity in prison and used Christian symbolism at a far-right march in London.
Danny Kruger, a former Conservative MP who joined Reform, has spoken of restoring Britain through 'Christian politics'. James Orr, a conservative theologian described as JD Vance's 'English philosopher king', has been appointed as a senior adviser to Reform. Both Kruger and Orr converted to conservative evangelical Christianity as adults.
Robinson's newfound faith mirrors a shift among European far-right groups from ethnicity to religion. Critics argue this simplifies Christianity and Islam into sealed-off entities, using religion as a zero-sum game where Christianity is synonymous with whiteness and Islam is portrayed as an existential threat.
The US legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) has more than doubled its spending in Britain since 2020 and increased its UK team fourfold. ADF, which helped overturn Roe v Wade in the US, now provides legal support to Christians prosecuted for praying in abortion clinic buffer zones in the UK.
Observers warn that the growing influence of US-style Christian right politics could have dire consequences for British democracy and social cohesion, as these movements seek to reshape governance and culture through a return to Christianity.
